Businesses and unions jointly fund the Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan, which offers help to workers struggling with addictions. The program has been updated and is increasing in popularity, at a time when the fentanyl overdose epidemic has claimed thousands of lives in B.C. Fraser Health has said construction industry workers are over-represented among overdose victims.

In the coming months, the B.C. Coroners Service will release a report tallying overdose deaths in 2017, and the number will confirm that it has been yet another abysmal year for people who use drugs, as well as their loved ones.

As hope fades that Metro Vancouver’s housing crisis will end anytime soon, counsellors say they are helping more clients tackle the shame and misery that comes from sleeping in rodent-infested basement suites or staying with abusive partners while struggling to find a better home.